Gothel the Visigoth: Narrated By Royal Historian Flynn Ryder
by sirkatesalot
Summary: This explores in more detail the life of a villain, Mother Gothel. There are some historical references but that is more for the sake of story than actual history. There are so many unanswered questions in Tangled. How did Gothel become evil yet still maintain a relationship with Rapunzel? Why is Rapunzel so psychologically obedient? How did the power of the rampion come to be?
1. Preface: Gothel As Narrated by Flynn

_**Preface**_

Gothel was the most radiant maid in all of East Germania. She was born and lived in about the fourth century. Gothel spoke Gothic, but her homeland was slowly being eaten away by the Franks and their insipidus Latin with it's confusing grammar and slang. In those days, the world of East Germania was filled with rampion. The Franks coveted its powers to heal and also its powers to heal the signs of aging. The fountain of youth had been a myth or had it? Did the flowers drink their powers from the hidden springs of the Bavarian mountains? Or did the flowers drink their powers from heaven above? As folk legend had it, the waters only glistened and sprung out the earth pure as gold because Heaven blessed it.

However the rampion came to be, Gothel had only one goal in life. To protect her homeland and invaders. It's true I said Germania was filled with rampion but the treasure was hidden along with the springs.

As we find out later, the rampion as a means to immortality was a myth but as we find also, with one exception. Only one pure of heart can eat the rampion and obtain the gift of healing. Only by their willingness and earnest intent can the pure of heart use their power. This may come at a cost to the bearer of the pain.

The receiver's intent and will goes into healing and receiving the powers. Their most innate wish and desire is granted for if the rampion must heal the body, it must also heal the soul.

 _I am Flynn Ryder, ruffian turned historian and I live to tell my tale but it didn't start with me. It began hundreds of years ago in Corona._

 _Or shall I say it began with my beautiful, feral wife? She taught me what it was to dream. Dare I say, I have been hiding forever behind more than just good looks. I have been hiding behind a tough exterior and castle walls from the once most precious harpie in the land._

 _And I'm a history geek._


	2. Chapter One: Champions for Rampion

Gothel had only one job. Thus she had only one saying:

"Blume-Schimmer und Glanz. Lassen Sie Ihre Kräfte glänzen. Lassen Sie die Zeit still zu stehen. Bringt mir alles, die was mein ist. Flower gleam and glow. Let your powers shine. Let time stand still. Bring to me all that is mine."

She had not been only the most beautiful maiden in the land but the most powerful. She was a princess. Her will brought out the powers of the rampion the most and only the most trusted and powerful in the land could grow the protected species.

"If only those blasted Franks won't trample the forest! They kill my people yet they seek eternal life?"

Gothel's royal advisor came in with a medieval telegram. "Your Honor—uh... um, I mean, Your Majesty. There's a new environmental group petitioning to grow campanula rapunculus. I advise you to seriously consider their advocacy. The towns and countries are in a dearth and sadly, we can't afford to feed them off rations for this war. The Franks are winning by the looks of it."

"What did I tell you? Stop pestering me with your pessimism! We haven't even tried rations yet. Great idea! Thanks, now leave." Gothel was always the spoiled brat, though still pure of intention.

"Majesty." He hated calling her that. She demanded to be called majesty when she was still princess. "I strongly, strongly advise you to choose between rations and war if you must choose, but, above all, I urge you to bestow some of your power on these environmentalists."

"Those granola cardboard-eating hippies? No one is purer in the land. Heaven spoke to me through its gift. Hidden except to me. I'm sorry to jump out at you but I need time alone to process, recuperate, and meditate to gain heaven's wisdom and advice. Some things are hidden only to other's eyes and ears."

"As you wish, my princess." The advisor, Ganther, cringed at his accidental slip in address. "I mean—Majesty." To his surprise, Gothel didn't blow a gasket. He guessed she just needed privacy. The demands of a queen took that common privilege away.

Okay, she wasn't all spoiled but she was showing increasing signs of superiority. Who single-track mind blindsighted her to taking care of herself and the ones around her. In some ways she was an old soul; in others, still a child.

"Those Frenchies aren't taking my Motherland in my time," she said to the silence.

Ganther missed the old Gothel. Or young Gothel, more accurately. Sometimes she could be so hypocritical. One day she could lecture her advisors and subjects on the importance of zero-tolerance for arranged marriages and the importance of conservation in the kingdom of Corona. Other times, she would use politically incorrect phrases like "corset burners" or "Frenchie-small-fries."

Ganther put his feet up on the velvet, upholstered stool next to the fireplace in his chambers. The crepuscule was almost over. The rampion could rest. The sun could rest. He could finally dream of possibilities.

Should I have gone into the interior design guild? What if I had chosen a different path? I long to do what is best for me! Why can't Gothel do the same? Heck, she doesn't even know what's best for Corona anymore! But wait... she needs me. Maybe from the money I save up here, I can start my own guild.

The fire pretty soon faded in the western sky, the hearth, and in Ganther's eyes. Dreams had to wait before responsibilities. A council of war was to be held the morrow in the great hall.


	3. Chapter Deux: Rumors and Remedies

Breakfast was held in the great hall but no one was hungry. The day was shattered already with rumors of poison. Was it the Franks? Was it a traitor from one of the quarters? Ganther suspected Atilla either started the rumor or administered the poison. One of the guards had fallen earlier when he was allowed to taste the sauerkraut and breakfast sausage.

"I've had a long night. I could really use some morsel," we're his last words. Had he been a martyr and a traitor or either or? Too many if's and's and but's clouded Ganther's speech. He would likely need to do a quarter of the speaking at the pre-war council meeting.

He worried until Gothel told him, "Not to worry, dear Ganther. I sprinkled a shot of rampion in all the drinks to counteract the rumors. We shall propose a toast to a brighter Corona before anything is ate, said, or done!"

That day didn't come and poor Ganther—he suspected Gothel's faux optimism was the real killer.

Fast forward to a more present-day Corona. Rapunzel shivers in her blankets. I scoot closer to her to warm her. She wasn't used to the drafty, endlessly spacious living conditions. In dream hysteria, sometimes she shouted and muttered how she missed home, wherever that was. She missed the smell of baked apple pies ascending the tower. She told that tidbit to me.

I asked her, "Punzie, is there anything you miss about living with Gothel?"

"I hate to think it but she has been my entire childhood, Flynn. I can't say I don't miss the coziness. The fireplace. Snuggling next to Pascal. Like any child, I had to beg my momsy for a pet but Flynn... I was only allowed a chameleon. I will always treasure Pascal but I can't help but wonder whether Goth—I mean, Gothel didn't let me have any other pets because some animals act as spies."

I held Punzie in my arms in the same bed the night she woke up from the strange dream. "Punz," I said. "Do you mean passenger pigeons?"

"Any sort of bird or animal that needed to be outside."

"Why couldn't you go outside?" I don't know whether she was ready to talk about it at the time or if she would ever be, but a relationship has to be built on honesty, right?

"Mother always told me the sun could cause cancer. Even for just a little while, I heard her stories of German people going cherry red, and that convinced me completely." Although she had that cheery note at the end of all her sentences, I sensed there was more to the tale. I'm a nosy brute.

"And something about not trampling on nature. I believed everything was alive and so alive out there in the great, wide somewhere that I didn't want to hurt the grass with my feet."

"I see," I saw but somehow I didn't. Rapunzel's experience was unique and all her own. I brag about my adventures and experience all the time but Rapunzel is quite a gem. So powerful yet gentle. So caring even to a fault. So influential yet so obedient. "I've heard about religions like that."

"Jainism, yes. I read about it in my books Gothel gave to me from Corona's library."

And so smart was she. I realized then, she knew so much of the outside world but she saw it from a different perspective. However, some of the insights Gothel allowed her were, in her eyes, overinflated in terms of acts of generosity. The royal family found this out in therapy sessions. (And yes, there are such things as royal psychologists). Rapunzel saw the good in everyone but she held on to the good as justification for her past. The role of therapy was to rid Rapunzel of guilt from naivete.

She needed to believe in her innocence. She needed to accept the past but some problems are too entrenched even for a handsome, young fiance to solve.

The past may go further than any mortal could regress. Into history. Our collective conscience goes far back and we can't stop the world from turning. But could we prevent? What the hell? Why am I acting the psychologist? Let's take a look at the ancestors of a few of my good ol' pub friends.

Ganther walked quietly to the castle gate. He tipped one of the servants who came from a town full of radicals for any information regarding the oncoming poison. Gothel tapped the drinks with rampion just to make sure but poison had a way of sneaking into the tightest targets. Gothel continued to tap the drinks with rampion and ate the flowers as a side dish but one night one of the servants fell ill.

"This is just a ruse to intimidate me. Ganther, send for the finest Germanic physicians at once!" She was demanding, but still a caring queen. She helped the nursemaids fetch water and pat the forehead of the feverish patient.

The physicians came but all too late. The fever made the servant black out and within two hours after the physicians arrived, Gothel's favorite servant was deceased.

Medieval transportation didn't fare well even in those medieval days but this is the one time I truly felt sorry for the witch.

From then on, she vowed to rule as long as she saw fit whether the radicals liked it or not. She would be barren and never have heirs so it was deemed necessary. She wanted eternity. She sought to outlive her reign.

Ganther received word of assassination attempt too late as well. The servant from the most radical village said the attempt came possibly from within the castle.

"Was it Vlad the Visigoth?"

"What? No! We needn't be racist. The Saxons are cool with the Goths now."

"Then who is it?"

Brumhilda whispered into Ganther's ear, "We suspect Atilla left one of the port latches open from the kitchen cellar after a guard snuck in a radical unknowingly thinking it was a new servant ready to switch shifts."

"Do you know who the guard was?"

"Is that really important? He's not the culprit."

"Then who is it?"

"The Hun."

"Atilla the Hun? I thought we were passed labels. I thought we were cool with the Huns now! Then again... I never had great feelings about the guy. He gave me an eerie vibe."

"That's all I know but don't hinge everything all on what I know. I'll meet you tomorrow in the throne room. You're Gothel's second favorite."

"I know..."

"Therefore she will only call me upon your summons."

"Much obliged? Well, thank you. I will meet you in your chambers at 7 a.m. We can start on the usual morning lineup and then after I take you to Gothel, we can dampen the bad news with pottery. Maybe some ventriloquy. Maybe some chess."

"Ooh, what fun!"

The night was warm and full of crickets. The clear sky didn't allow for much privacy but the peace it gave them was rest from what had to come.

Fast forward to present-day again. Sorry. Back it up. Or should I say forward it up? Rapunzel also told me about the anomaly of her hair.

"Oh Eugene! I whined and complained. I feel so terrible for whining and complaining but this hair was a weight on my head. The world was a weight on my head and I didn't even get to see the world! Plus, this hair added much weight... to my head."

"Why didn't you just... you know... cut it?" I was still getting a hang of this new sensitive me.

She sighed. "I wanted to so terribly for I couldn't wash my hair. Gothel bought me like 50 shampoo bottles!"

We shared in mutual laughter. However, I became distracted by my own sudden light-heartedness. I didn't want Punze to become distracted... yet again.

"Oh, sorry Eugene. Another good memory just comes bubbling right up!" Rapunzel had that same cheeriness to her end of sentences but it quickly turned into unspoken sadness. "It became the only reason to keep me occupied. I know how much Mother enjoyed our little ritual of brushing. It was a childhood tradition. Sometimes I grew tired of the flower song but my hair fascinated me just as it did Mother. I wasn't freaked out about it or anything but that's only because Gothel—Mother—told me many special girls had golden, glowing hair. Plus, I enjoyed it because I swung high and mighty from the rafters just as in those Tarzan books Gothel gave me!"

"Tarzan, was that your favorite book?"

"It was only one of my favorites." She had this cute way of pretending to be smug as if it was a mockery to my swag—I mean, smolder. "Tarzan was adopted. He saw the world from the inside looking out. He was highly suspicious of strangers... oh yes, I can definitely see why I would like him!"

"But you don't like him more than me?"

"As Mother used to say to me, 'I love you most!'"

"Not sure if I take that one as an initial compliment but oh well! I am most!" I returned a cheesy grin. Punzie loves my cheesy grins. "Much better than the smolder," she says.


	4. Early Internet Revenge Tabletoids

Sorry about that little peek into almost-married life. Hope you enjoyed it. Now back to the serious stuff. Rapunzel encouraged me to pursue history so it's what I do.

When the word got out from hidden castle lips to the town criers that Gothel was perhaps descended from Visigoths, the antagony toward the queen grew intense.

Who leaked Gothel's birth certificate? Was it Atilla the Hun?

"I want everyone out of my room at once!"

"But madame-"

"That includes you, Ganther. I trusted you. How could you accuse-how could you dare accuse Atilla the Hun the Vth of stealing my birth certificate? He is one of my most trusted, loyal, honorable men. I have it right here."

Gothel patted her red, velvet dress looking for non-existent pockets. She rifled through every drawer. She even looked under the bed and the trunks therein.

"I apologize, Ganther. It seems we had a spy at our meeting."

It never occurred to Ganther that he had known one of these spies.

"I apologized too... but to Atilla. He is a tough guy on the outside, Highness, but he would never hurt a fly. May I remind you it was one of your ladies who dare such an accusation upon the kingdom's cupcake maker?"

"I doubly apologize, Ganther. I know you are not on the best of terms."

"Because one of your ladies... should I say?"

Gothel sat on her satin bed sadly. She looked at her hands. "Yes," she parted her mouth hesitantly. "You may speak."

"It was Brumhilda."

"Brumhilda?" Gothel's shock could not be absorbed by the springy, outdated mattress. "She-she was my mother's midwife."

"I know-but please don't jump to any conclusions, m' lady. She could've heard it from som' other."

Ganther shirked at what may have come. "You are right, Ganther. The castle is full of spies. I'm going to fire everyone."

"Your upmost Highness! You can't do that! Hundreds of people depend on the palace for their livelihoods. The economy tanks. The towns and prairies are in shambles. You've seen-"

Gothel fingered his chin seductively. "Sssilence," she whispered still seductively in her false falsetto.

Ganther gave a knowing smile. Gothel would always be on his side even though the state of things changed her. He knew he brought out the best in him. He thought he could change her.

The door shut behind Ganther. The room was their hideout until the gossip quieted down with the night.


	5. A Suit to Fit a Suitor

Gothel took longer than most brides in those days to marry, but let me tell you, she wasn't the horrible hag you know her to be today. She had full, rosy and supple cheeks, a wide smile, and her dark hair was springy and spunky. The age of marriage wasn't the reason she rushed, however. With the kingdom awry, a marriage would secure her line and power as a female, legitimate ruler. The only one for Corona.

Age before beauty, thought Gothel while she sat by her window box.

It didn't matter to guys even how beautiful she was. All Corona cared about was ancestry, reputation, and age.

I want to be young forever but I can't live this long.

The responsibility ahead was more daunting than the tasks at present: convince a village priest to see her as rightful queen, a Visigoth, and pick out a dress.

Once I am wed I wish for a creative daughter to make me a dress. My ladies in-waiting only give me garments from the cheapest Andalusian fabric. Yes, I will live long enough for this to happen. I will "live long and prosper" and live long enough to renew my reputation.

But she didn't have to wait as long as many generations for her to get her wish for a suitor.

Gothel's ladies in-waiting kept pestering. "Why don't you marry Ganther?"

"You know it! It's against the rules to marry someone beneath my station." Besides, she thought. He will never want me after the way I treated him. She quickly pushed the thought aside in embarrassment. It is not queenly to feel embarrassment.

"He seems to like you." Ida flushed.

Gothel couldn't reason whether she had feelings for him. She considered him a friend and didn't want to ruin the advisor/queen relationship. So maybe that was the only thing blocking their engagement? Don't ask Eugene. Ask Flynn Ladies' Man. Two people not sure if someone feels the same way never feel the same.

"Shut it, Brumhilda. Always the gossip." Ada scolded. "We can't force them."

Gothel gave a sad, dreamy sigh by the window box. "He is handsome in a very basic fashion. Basically, he's not as attractive as Engelbert and not as disgusting as Eckbert with his extra toe and oozing face."

"You shouldn't care for looks, m'lady." Ida interjected.

"You mean, not at all?" Ada spoke with showy sarcasm and diva jocularity. "Honey, I'm not cleaning up 'something here that oozes'!" Ida and others ladies in-waiting Freya, Brigit, and Annette giggled.

Gothel finally broke her silence. "I mean, it does matter. I don't want to lie to them. They should be beautiful both inside and out."

"So it is settled then," Freya declared, always the mediator standing tall. The most beautiful and lithe ladies in-waiting and wise she always seemed most mysterious. When she did speak it mattered.

And yes, it was settled. Princes came from afar. Burgundy, Allemagne, and Thuringia. The prince Bert of Burgundy liked the castle but was unimpressed with the kingdom and its lack of vineyards. The prince of Allemagne noticed Gothel's character when speaking to servants.

"She fancies herself a queen when she is still just a princess." The prince Albert of Allemagne said to his attendants. They each answered in a sarcastic giggle.

The truth was, Gothel admired youth but she adored status more and what isn't more normal than a young lady envisioning being a queen? Sure, it may have slipped in passing that she was the queen but the prince of Thuringia would really inherit the kingdom if she didn't marry soon and if she married him, this pawn-y scheme would be easier than chess, for sure.

Horribly, he was the most handsome, but Gothel's kingdom was in such shambles it saved her from what us historians, all seeing and omnipotent and whatnot, could have seen coming. The prince Franz of Thuringia was equal, if not greater, than Gothel in pride, but this pride had already developed into something beyond false pride.

Gothel was still living a façade trying to keep her kingdom together. Being the oldest heir of her kingdom shielded her from the innocence of being a princess. She saw her sisters but only on the holidays. After her parents' death the sisters drew closer together but jealousy sparked over inheritance and Corona broke into numerous city states. Gothel was the oldest heir and thus entrusted with the largest estate and rule but the two younger sisters did not like this or the way she handled things.

"I'm totally supportive of the eco-friendly cause." She told Ida, the naïve but best listener out of the ladies, one day. "What do they have against me?"

"It perhaps isn't you but what you have."

"My good, lip-smacking looks?" Ida snorted in laughter before realizing she was being serious. But seriously, I have to agree with her there. That's something Flynn Ryder would say.

Then Ida questioned, maybe she is being serious. But the humor was covering something darker.

"No," Ida whispered in the empty balustrade. "The elixir of life come from the heavens. Capanula rapunculus. Rampion..."

The stone walls echoed with her careful annunciation. Gothel collapsed. "By golly! Gunther was right. Those cardboard-eating hippies were right. My people are starved. I should grow rampion."

"Not really what I was suggesting, m'lady but I pay attention round this castle and it seems we could benefit from the trade." She paid more attention than Brumhilda, anyway.

"Yes, yes, m'dear. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There will have to be some laws and restrictions for use of it of course, but you are my favorite, pet."

Ida blushed but couldn't help get an eerie feeling over the word "pet."

It was a day of suspiciously good news. What happened when she entered her bedchambers shocked her.

Ganther was knelt down, holding a box containing something glittery in it. "Gothel, my majesty, you can sometimes be a pain in the butt, sometimes off your rocker, but you are good soul. Will you marry me?"

Beads of sweat formed on Gothel's forehead. "Oh-deary-my. Ganther, I may sometimes pass quick wrath on you, but it's only the wrath of my kingdom. Ganther, I may not listen to your ideas at first, but you are a bright wit. I never considered you would propose ever..."

"But?"

"But...yes! I propose yes."

The ladies in waiting, Brumhilda, Ida, Ada, Freya, and Brigit clapped in quickening succession. It was the brightest day of Gothel's life. One that couldn't be smudged my tradition, the law, status, or treachery.

"I will make you a dress, one from the finest Andalusian fabric only." Freya suggested with a smile.


	6. Counseling in Session

We have to get back to the counseling session. I know I have been busy with telling you this story but it only gets better, or worse, however you want to put it.

"Just so you know, Mister, I only came because Eugene said it would be a great idea. These things never work."

The royal counselor and psychologist bent his head in disagreement. "We will see about that. Your father also suggested this to you."

Rapunzel blushed at her rare rudeness.

"Let's start with why you are here today."

She giggled. "I thought it was obvious."

"I've only been told your father and husband's side of the story. I want to hear from you. From your heart."

She was surprised how much she had to let go from her head. "I've been torn... Did my childhood ever mean anything if my mother never loved me?" Tears had to be let go too. She took a few quick breaths but it was too late. "I never knew anybody. She was the only human I knew. I shouldn't even be talking to you. They said it would take a while to build my vocabulary...and...and..."

"That's okay. Take your time."

She sniffled and wiped her snot on her expensive gown not caring. "And they said it would take a while to build up my speech. I was not only hoarse when Flynn first found me, but I only knew simple sentences and look at me choking up over the most simple, blatant..."

"I think you are doing a marvelous job. The way you are speaking now shows natural social affinity and talent. Usually it takes a while for patients to open up. You have a gift for speech and interpersonal relations, and I'm not just saying that from being one of your closer subjects, but being a psychologist."

Rapunzel couldn't help but grin as radiantly as the sun. The smile, however, faded. "I feel so stupid."

"You were a baby. It was the only world you knew. Why do you say that?"

"Because I've been pulled in two directions all my life. The love of my mother, or what I thought was love, and her scary stories of the world I knew to be true. The other direction, the call of the wild, creation beckoning me. If it weren't for my mother, I wouldn't be torn. I wouldn't feel like a coward. Urghh...why didn't I act?"

"It seems you have come to terms with your special circumstances. You feel guilty, am I right?" Rapunzel gave a so-so signal with her hand. "You felt you were at an impasse so you couldn't act. Morally speaking, there was no right or wrong. You wanted to be obedient, am I right?"

"Obedient but out of fear. Slowly I realize it wasn't out of love."

"Alright. I'm not trying to put words into your mouth or anything. Just confirming what I heard. Moving on, have you had any thoughts of suicide?"

"No, are you kidding? My life has just begun. I know what I'm dealing with now but the past somehow...interferes. Does that make sense?"

"It does make sense. I just want to be sure because not many people answer this question."

"If I'm honest, would you tell anybody?"

"Counseling sessions are strictly confidential but if you ever or in the future try to harm yourself, we have to tell the king and queen. Your subjects won't hear about it but we need to tell the parents of our beloved princess."

"If I'm completely honest I imagined Gothel hanging me from the rafters of the old tower when I was fifteen and imagined what the best way to get out of the tower would be...forever. Would I just jump out from my high story? I never went through with anything or attempted anything."

The silence made Rapunzel uncomfortable and she looked into her lap at her hands.

Therefore, I have to stop here. I apologize for my readers. This is getting too serious. But if fairy tales were real, we would have to deal with the real hurt. Rapunzel, I am here for you. I don't like hearing this but I promised my wife I would listen and so I must recant to you as warning. *Disclaimer: if anyone is thinking about bodily harm or a way out, contact someone. It doesn't have to be everyone. Just someone. *

The ashamed look of Rapunzel's whole demeaner wasn't one of untruthfulness. "We can stop here if you like."

"No." Rapunzel said meekly. "I have more to say. I knew Gothel was hiding something and I suppose that's why I feel stupid and guilty but I thought it was too personal. Even though I was her favorite I can't help but imagine she didn't have many friends. She told me of the outside world..."

"Stop right here for a moment. She told you of the outside world?"

"She told me of going to market. Sometimes she was gone days at a time. For stretches, I would feel even more lonely. But when I came back she told me the most marvelous stories. They often didn't involve friends. She knew some witches back at the local coven." Rapunzel gave her signature awkward giggle and wrung her dress. "She fought off bandits in tall forests. Sailed with pirates to provide for me. I knew she was a hero but I knew her business. I knew it made me a criminal."

"I want you to hear your reasoning. My reasoning is off limits for now. Why do you think it made you a criminal?"

"I don't know...I just kind of...didn't know what else to do but go along. I told you I felt like a coward." She buried her face in her hands willing not to cry.

"Is there anything you can point to that made you feel like a coward."

Her shoulders heaved and she sniffled. "She made me? I don't know that's what I'm here to find out."

"Yes, but I don't want to put words into your mouth."

Counseling was suddenly very circular to the princess. It wasn't the reputation that counselors had about being nosy that made her uneasy.

"We can stop here."

"Alright. For our next session, we will talk about why your mother made you feel like a coward but I need a confirmation. She made you feel like a coward. You don't mean that as a question."

"Correct."

"Okay, we begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m."


	7. There's Always Tomorrow

Gothel was married by the first chill of October in Andalusian finery. Her gown trailed one meter behind her and was covered in silk embroidered flowers. The dress underneath the gown was of the softest, most flowing wool. Despite her low approval ratings, attendance was filled. The grand ballroom was decorated in the finest Andalusian tapestries and tables of food lined each wall.

As the ceremony reached a high, a few peasants and nobles were wasted, Gothel and Ganther still twirled and delighted as the lute playing slowed.

Candles were brought in by the barrel-full by squires and butlers. It was a night Gothel would never forget and one the kingdom forgave her for. She had so much fun she forgot dessert. Ganther pulled her over to the dessert table with arrays of German chocolate cake, Pfannkuchen, fritters, and strudels.

Fireworks commenced after all bellies were full and those wasted could recover with homemade remedies just so they could remember the finale.

Unfortunately, the night didn't go as planned. At the climax when the fireworks were biggest and most bright, cries could be heard. They weren't the cries of wild drunks for every wasted person wanted this moment bright and shining in their memories. As the cries increased, the onlookers became more aware this was a raid.

Gothel ran back to the North Tower to summon the guards. Despite the fireworks fizzling and fading, the worried voices added to the chaos. Corona rebels against the rule of a Visigoth slashed through the partiers.

I won't describe every gory detail but some were trampled. The loyalists of the crown stormed out of the castle and stopped more of this from happening, but in the pandemonium one rebel snuck in under the moat. They were dressed in finery. They appeared like any nervous or wary guest. Their silk tunic didn't make a noise as the man slipped to the kitchens. Luckily for him only, the maids and guards, despite how many employed, abandoned this room in terror which was still left in the silent wake.

In the ice boxes taken from the cellars, hangover remedies were stocked full, probably for important business the next day.

The trespasser wielded the unknown power of the ancient and rare rampion. For purposes only valuable to him, he didn't want its secret getting out. I'm afraid though, his speculation of its consequences were correct.

He slipped the rampion into the mixture of ground eel and raw bitter almonds cure. The concoction and spell were meant to heal alright but the wielder knew the spell and the rampion could give him his rotten heart's desire.

"Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine, let the flower treaty fail and make the new queen wail. Rampion will be her addiction. Let this wish perverse bring back what once was mine. The coven of West Germanian witches want their brew back." He took the fragile bottle of rampion tincture and placed the pippin dropper in the bottle and carefully and as quickly as possible, checking over his shoulder each time at the closed door, put the essence of rampion into each bottle of eel juice. "Oh...let our queen have her wishes. But she will be addicted...to desire."

The next morning the castle was defended and despite the ridiculousness of the original remedy the kitchen maidens and maids prepared, everyone felt refreshed. The rancid breath of each castle employee was not noticed. Ganther and Gothel had a mad make-out session after the castle victory. The vanquishing of rebels was the cherry on top of the celebration. Ganther and Gothel were both skilled in the art of fleshling and swordsmanship.

The council was adjourned to meeting. 9:30 a.m.

"Subjects and nobles of East Germania, kingdom of Corona, under the crown of the most-high summer sun; I call you here today for a treaty the environmentalists have been advocating for a while. I have long doubted this treaty but the new king has convinced then promised me you will support our decision. First, I want to hear any objections. I think bringing back rampion would doubly increase our economy. However, does anyone object?"

The general of the guards dressed in blue and wearing a high, regal hat for council spoke. "Your majesty, some of the peasants believe it would compete with the old crops and apothecarial remedies. It could also have some consequences. It's too much power for any kingdom, or even person, to handle the heavenly flower."

"Gusto, I agree. But Ganther assured me we will work together to enable strict regulations, black market monitoring, and growth rates. The peasants will be afforded a plot of land as token if, and indeed it will be, the flower takes popularity. I have walked it over with the king."

"The economy is fine," a smaller and even more refined guard spoke, "but how will the economy be if wars are started over this meek flower?"

"We have a strict closed-borders policy here. Metzer, this has been a war for a while over my ancestry. Anyone inside the borders will be quelled as they were last night. Anyone outside the borders, will only pertain to their own supply."

Metzer reworded his qualm. "Yes, your majesty, but we don't know yet how much power this flower may yield to, or what power."

"A team of apothecaries will be hired shortly by the king. However, the environmentalists spoke to me and they assure the flower is endangered. It may only heal one person a century. One special child may be granted its gift of healing as we've been told and we may only save one flower but one flower will be worth it."

I don't know what scientist or medieval environmentalist told these people about the flower, but yes, the treaty was signed. And yes, the treaty will fail.


	8. Forever Healing a Kingdom

Rapunzel returned to therapy the next morning. She was always a morning person but suddenly, mornings gave her the heebie-jeebies. Sleeping in, pizza for lunch with German cabbage, and the Kingdom Teen zine in Gothic font gave her more therapy than a stuffy office.

While Rapunzel was getting settled, I was left to basically do nothing but wait in agony. I made Rapunzel promise she would summarize the sessions for me, but only if she felt comfortable regaling the topic. I made her promise after Counselor Winthrop asked her if she thought about suicide.

"I said it was a fleeting thought but it was weird because he was making me relive those memories."

I told her it was okay, it was just a form of psychotherapy, immersing yourself in the pain so you don't bury it too deep. Immersion therapy, yes, that's the name for it!

"I will talk to him. I think that's a rather forward question for a beginning session, but your parents wanted to do this and I told them I will help along. I'm not just doing this because of your parents, however. Helping you is the chance to help the kingdom. Caring for you is caring for the kingdom. I think the royal counselor just wanted to get that question out of the way because some of his patients just started therapy and as therapy didn't go as planned quickly enough...some wanted a better way out. I wish, Punzie, you told me this first too, but you opened up, so our royal counselor must be good at his job." I winked just as I do at the end of every speech.

Anyway, I promised a lighter topic but I haven't even gotten halfway through my history yet. We are talking villains and villainesses here. That's something to do while I wait. Tell you what happened after the treaty. I'm afraid I was interrupted... A gypsy-looking enchantress knocked on the castle door wearing roses and a cloak, one I swore belonged in another fairy tale asked to see the king and queen with me. No guards were allowed and this made us a tad...wary.

Let's see, she had a prophecy. At first, I thought she was another hag (like that Gothel) but when she took off her cloak she was radiant and youthful.

"Gothel still lives. You didn't destroy her like Dorothy did and the bucket of water. She goes on in another form. Matter and energy cannot be destroyed. At least that's what the science and magic of our times tells us." With our confused looks, she continued. "In a future, over a hundred years from our time, an okay-talented artist will try to bring back the old Germany but this will actually be a new Germany. His promises will look delectable but they will deceive." Her voice trembled but she became louder. "He will promise 1000 years of a solid Germany. This Gothel, if continued to live and the course of events don't change, will join this imagined era. This era will not last but if Gothel is led astray she will cause chaos that will continue to endure till more modern ages."

"What shall we do?" The king demanded out of fear and not anger of the strange messenger. "Listen carefully: you will seek and destroy every last rampion or flower of the sun you see in this kingdom. It's very beauty will make it hard. Its healing powers will make your conscience real. You have to cut off its power source."

"But what about its usefulness to the ecosystem?" The queen asked.

"It has done what it needed to do for an age, but once it reached into the hands of man, it's power was corrupted. Rapunzel was or will be born and that was its last work of light." The queen nodded and the gypsy was thanked with a meal and led on her way.


End file.
